I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9233 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health 

and Human Services to establish a program for the conduct and support 

of research, training, and health information dissemination with respect 

to environmental risk factors of neurodegenerative diseases, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 30, 2024 

Ms. WEXTON (for herself and Mr. BILIRAKIS) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to require the 

Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish 

a program for the conduct and support of research, 

training, and health information dissemination with respect to environmental risk factors of neurodegenerative 

diseases, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Harmonizing Environ5 mental Analyses and Launching Therapeutic Hubs to 

6 Yield Bolstered Research And Innovation in Neurological 


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1 Science Act of 2024’’ or the ‘‘HEALTHY BRAINS Act 

2 of 2024’’. 

3 SEC. 2. RESEARCH INTO ENVIRONMENTAL RISK FACTORS 

4 THAT MAY CONTRIBUTE TO 

5 NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE. 

6 Part B of title IV of the Public Health Service Act 

7 (42 U.S.C. 284 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 409K. NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE ENVIRON10 MENTAL RESEARCH. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

12 the Director of NIH, shall establish a program for the con13 duct and support of research, training, and health infor14 mation dissemination with respect to environmental risk 

15 factors (including environmental toxicant exposures) of 

16 neurodegenerative diseases. 

17 ‘‘(b) SCOPE OF RESEARCH.—Research conducted or 

18 supported under this section shall— 

19 ‘‘(1) be focused on— 

20 ‘‘(A) potential environmental toxicants, in21 cluding environmental stressors such as volatile 

22 organic compounds, particulate matter, per23 and polyfluorinated substances, and heavy met24 als in environmental media such as air, water, 

25 food, and soil; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the mechanistic interactions of such 

2 toxicants with neurodegenerative disease out3 comes; 

4 ‘‘(C) the presymptomatic markers of 

5 neurodegenerative disease; and 

6 ‘‘(D) advancing development of environ7 mental health strategies to prevent, manage, 

8 treat, or slow the progression of 

9 neurodegenerative disease; and 

10 ‘‘(2) may include research— 

11 ‘‘(A) examining environmental exposures, 

12 including occupational risk factors, 

13 sociobehavioral factors, and social determinants 

14 of health; 

15 ‘‘(B) using fundamental approaches to 

16 identify historical, existing, and emerging envi17 ronmental risks and factors that affect disease 

18 progression; 

19 ‘‘(C) examining multifactorial causation 

20 from chemical and nonchemical exposures; 

21 ‘‘(D) examining prevalence of the disease 

22 in relation to the distribution of exposures 

23 across communities and populations; 


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1 ‘‘(E) examining the expression of disease 

2 traits that result from the interplay of genes 

3 and environment; and 

4 ‘‘(F) exploring physiological mechanisms 

5 driving neurodegeneration from toxicant expo6 sures. 

7 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION WITHIN NIH.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pro9 gram under subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) provide for coordination across the 

11 programs and activities of the National Insti12 tutes of Health to avoid duplication; and 

13 ‘‘(B) expand the funding of environmental 

14 health research by leading an ongoing, coordi15 nated, and focused effort to fund new and exist16 ing centers for the study and evaluation of envi17 ronmental risk factors (including environmental 

18 toxicants) of neurodegenerative diseases. 

19 ‘‘(2) BIENNIAL REPORT.—In carrying out para20 graph (1), the Secretary shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) submit a biennial report detailing the 

22 findings and conclusions of research under this 

23 section to— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the Committees on Appropria2 tions of the House of Representatives and 

3 the Senate; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Energy and 

5 Commerce of the House of Representa6 tives; and 

7 ‘‘(iii) the Committee on Health, Edu8 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; 

9 ‘‘(B) post each report under subparagraph 

10 (A) on the public website of the National Insti11 tutes of Health; and 

12 ‘‘(C) include the information reported pur13 suant to subparagraph (A) in the triennial re14 port under section 403. 

15 ‘‘(d) COLLABORATIVE CENTERS FOR

16 NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE ENVIRONMENTAL RE17 SEARCH.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pro19 gram under subsection (a), the Secretary shall pro20 vide for the establishment of research centers, to be 

21 known as Collaborative Centers for 

22 Neurodegenerative Disease Environmental Research 

23 (in this section each referred to as a ‘CCNDER’) at 

24 institutions of higher education, medical centers, and 

25 other appropriate entities. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—With respect to 

2 neurodegenerative disease, each CCNDER shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) conduct and support basic, applied, 

4 and clinical research on the effects of environ5 mental risk factors (including environmental 

6 toxicants), including with respect to disease 

7 progression; 

8 ‘‘(B) use the facilities of a single institu9 tion or a consortium of cooperating institutions 

10 to administer the CCNDER and meet such 

11 qualifications as may be prescribed by the Sec12 retary; 

13 ‘‘(C) focus on population-based, environ14 mental health research; 

15 ‘‘(D) ensure that the research conducted 

16 and supported pursuant to this section is inter17 disciplinary and collaborative; 

18 ‘‘(E) coordinate with existing intramural 

19 and extramural efforts of the National Insti20 tutes of Health; and 

21 ‘‘(F) collaborate with relevant partners and 

22 stakeholders, including researchers, health pro23 fessionals, nonprofit organizations, patients, 

24 and caregivers, to understand the effects of en25 vironmental risk factors (including environVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:29 Aug 30, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9233.IH H9233

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1 mental toxicants) of neurodegenerative disease 

2 and progression thereof. 

3 ‘‘(3) DISCRETIONARY ACTIVITIES.—With re4 spect to neurodegenerative diseases, each CCNDER 

5 may— 

6 ‘‘(A) provide career enhancement and 

7 training opportunities for scientists, research8 ers, environmental professionals, and health 

9 professionals, including through the provision of 

10 stipends; 

11 ‘‘(B) conduct programs to provide informa12 tion and continuing education to health profes13 sionals, including through the provision of sti14 pends; 

15 ‘‘(C) conduct programs for the dissemina16 tion of information to the public regarding re17 search findings and proposed prevention strate18 gies when appropriate; 

19 ‘‘(D) separately or in collaboration with 

20 other CCNDERs or governmental agencies, es21 tablish a nationwide data system that— 

22 ‘‘(i) includes data derived from com23 prehensive and representative patient pop24 ulations with neurodegenerative diseases; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) where possible, compares rel2 evant data involving general populations; 

3 ‘‘(E) separately or in collaboration with 

4 other CCNDERs, establish a clearinghouse, to 

5 be known as the Environmental Contributions 

6 to Neurodegenerative Disease Information 

7 Clearinghouse, to facilitate and enhance knowl8 edge and understanding of environmental risk 

9 factors of neurodegenerative diseases; and 

10 ‘‘(F) separately or in collaboration with 

11 other CCNDERs, establish a national education 

12 program that fosters a national focus on envi13 ronmental risk factors of neurodegenerative dis14 eases. 

15 ‘‘(4) DURATION OF SUPPORT.—The period of 

16 support for a CCNDER under this section shall not 

17 exceed 5 years, except that such period may be ex18 tended by the Secretary for one or more additional 

19 periods of not more than 5 years if— 

20 ‘‘(A) the operations of such CCNDER 

21 have been reviewed by an appropriate technical 

22 and scientific peer review group established by 

23 the Secretary; and 

24 ‘‘(B) such group has recommended to the 

25 Secretary that such period should be extended. 


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1 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

2 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro3 priated $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 

4 2030.’’. 

Æ 


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